For more than 75 years, Hako Machines has been a trusted name in professional cleaning solutions. From factory floors to city streets, their equipment helps businesses and local authorities keep environments clean, safe and efficient.
We’ll be showcasing our expertise at the Made in Yorkshire Expo, taking place on Thursday 16th October 2025 at the Accu Stadium, Huddersfield.
As part of Made in Yorkshire’s Exhibitor Spotlight series, a member of the MIY team recently caught up with Managing Director, Sylvie Giangolini, to discuss what drives Hako, what we’ve achieved recently, and what’s next for us.
1. In one sentence – what does Hako do best?
We manufacture, distribute and support commercial cleaning equipment throughout the UK, from a small tub vac right up to a six-tonne road sweeper, with a solution for every cleaning challenge, whatever the application, sector or environment.
2. What’s the driving mission or purpose behind Hako right now?
Our focus is on sustainable growth. Over the past decade, turnover has grown steadily from around £12m to nearly £19m, moving the business from loss-making into profitability, all while our headcount has remained stable. That’s because we believe in building a consistent, high-performing team.
We take a consultative approach with customers, ensuring every capital investment is the right decision not just for today but for the long term. Internally, we’re equally focused on people. Every team member has a pay plan, training matrix and career development plan, with opportunities for progression and a strong culture of wellbeing.
3. What’s been the biggest milestone in the past 12 months?
It’s been an incredibly busy year for us.
We’ve restructured the business ready for the next phase of growth, put our leadership team through a comprehensive learning and development programme, and upgraded a number of our core suppliers to strengthen our foundations. Alongside this, we’ve welcomed new people, improved our processes, expanded our northern office, and invested significantly in our Wakefield training and service centre.
We’re also proud to have achieved ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 accreditations, further elevating our standards. With an average tenure of more than 20 years across our field service team, we know our culture of consistency and commitment is one of our biggest strengths.
4. Any exciting developments on the horizon?
Sustainability is our biggest focus for the future. We’re currently working on our first Sustainability Report and aiming to improve our Ecovadis accreditation from bronze to silver. By next year, every Hako product will also carry its own carbon footprint certificate, supporting customers with Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reporting, which is a vital factor in government tenders.
We’re also proud of our refurbishment programme, which gives returned rental machines a full second life. Customers often can’t tell the difference between new and refurbished equipment, other than the logo, and every machine comes with a full aftersales package. It’s a perfect example of how we’re pairing growth with environmental responsibility.
5. Something surprising or little-known about us...
Hako was founded as a family business in 1948, but our story goes back further. Our founder invented the world’s first small powered cultivator, and who knew that would one day lead to everything from compact vacuums to six-tonne road sweepers?
Come and meet us at the Made in Yorkshire Expo 2025
We’ll be on stand MIY130 at this year’s Made in Yorkshire Expo.
If you have registered to attend, come and meet Sylvie and the Hako team to discover how we’re driving sustainable growth while continuing to deliver cleaning solutions for every environment.
See you there!